To speak in english ошибка

• #1

When we communicate in a language usually a foreign language, say English, do we speak or speak in English…and for one’s mother tongue do we speak in that language?

• #2

Do you have a full sentence, so that we can be sure of what you’re asking?

• #3

Do you have a complete sentence in mind? And some context?

• #4

Do you have a full sentence, so that we can be sure of what you’re asking?

In many English films I hear actors saying,»Hey, you speak English?»
While in class I have heard teachers (non native) saying either «Speak/converse in English» or «Do not communicate in vernacular!»
In this context, which one is right to speak English or speak in English?

• #5

They are different situations.

In many English films I hear actors saying,»Hey, you speak English?»

Here, they’re asking if the other person has a knowledge of English.

While in class I have heard teachers (non native) saying either «Speak/converse in English» or «Do not communicate in vernacular!»

Here, they mean «Use English when you speak» and «Don’t use your mothertongue/the local language when you speak».

I speak English = I know English.
I speak in English = I use English to communicate.

• #6

They are different situations.

Here, they’re asking if the other person has a knowledge of English.

Here, they mean «Use English when you speak» and «Don’t use your mothertongue/the local language when you speak».

I speak English = I know English.
I speak in English = I use English to communicate.

Thank you

• #7

Welcome to the forum, Ritwika!

In other words, «speak English» means your knowledge in general of English (ability to speak that language) while «speak in English» means literally speaking/using English to communicate on particular occasions.

There really isn’t much difference in meaning between «speak English» and «speak in English» from a practical point of view. However, the two phrases use a slightly different meaning of the verb «to speak».

In the first the meaning is «be able to communicate in a language» such as «he speaks English fluently», in the second you are describing the manner of speaking; consider for comparison: «he speaks in a high voice».

See wiktionary. where we have a couple of different meanings:

• 1. (intransitive) To communicate with one’s voice, to say words out loud.
• 1. (transitive) To be able to communicate in a language.

Note the difference can be deduced from (amongst other things) whether the verb is transitive or not.

With respect to talk, the work «talk» there is a great deal of overlap between the meanings of «talk» and «speak», insofar as there is a difference «talk» tends to mean a back and forth communication between more than one person, and «speak» tends to emphasize the actions of a single person. However, that is only a general rule, since «a talk» can also specifically mean a lecture, which is mostly one way.

In regards to «talk English» that is not allowable because it is a special, specific meaning of «speak» as indicated in the dictionary entry I cited above. However, «talk in English» is perfectly acceptable, though perhaps not idiomatic; it means a conversation conducted in the English language (or alternatively a lecture delivered in the English language.) Again, the proposition «in» here denotes the manner in which the talking is to be done.

For more on talk see wiktionary.

ADDENDUM
In response to a comment below, I thought a contrast would help. The comment was «is there a difference between ‘he can speak English well’ and ‘he can speak in English well'».

The answer is that practically speaking there isn’t really any difference between the two. However, let me offer a contrast. To say «he can speak English well, but doesn’t understand it at all» does not make any sense, since «speaking English» implies an facility with the language. However you could say «he can speak in English well, but he can’t understand it» is semantically acceptable, since speaking is different than understanding. However, obviously it doesn’t make sense for a different reason — namely that from a practical point of view you cannot really speak with your mouth a language without understanding it. In fact, truthfully it is usually the other way around — usually people understand a language better than they speak it.

However, there is one exception, typified by this example: when someone who knows no English uses a phrase book with certain fixed sentences, such as «Please tell me where the bathroom is» or «Please take me to the airport.» In this case the speaker does not understand the words he is saying, reciting them merely by rote from a phrase book. In this case he can speak in English, but he does not speak English.

Hope that makes sense.

English can be a confusing language. Adding just a few letters or one small word into a sentence can completely alter the meaning of what we say or write. This can cause a lot of frustration for language learners as well as be a point of curiosity. Knowing the nuance (small differences in meaning) between different expressions in English can be worth your time to learn. This type of knowledge separates advanced learners from those with near native-like fluency.

The short answer is, both of them are correct! Each of those expressions is grammatically correct English. Their differences lie with context. “I speak English.” and “I can speak in English.” both mean the same thing. However, using those phrases differently can completely change the meaning.

This more or less answers the question. If you want to use either of these phrases in your writing or while speaking, have no fear! Neither of them are incorrect English usage. However, if you’re keen to know more about how they can be used then keep reading. What follows is an in-depth discussion about exactly how each of those phrases are different and how their differences influence their possible meanings.

NOTE: The following is an in-depth discussion of English grammar. If you are not interested in sticky, complex grammar discussions, it’s good enough for you to know that both of them are correct and you can use them similarly. Otherwise, read on friend.

Terms to Know

Before we take a look at the specific structures of the two phrases above, we need to make sure we know and understand a couple of key grammar concepts that we will use in the following discussion.

Transitivity

The idea of transitivity has nothing to do with Transylvania or vampires! It’s a way of talking about a verb and the number of arguments it takes.

Most simply, there are two forms of transitivity for a verb (there are more, but let’s keep it simple).

1. intransitive
   • the verb does not take an argument.
2. transitive
   • the verb takes one argument.

So what do we mean when we say it takes an argument? Are the words yelling at each other in the sentence? No, of course not, what this means is whether or not the verb can take a direct object. Let’s take a look:

• He runs.
  • This verb is intransitive. It can appear alone like this without anything to its right.
• He kisses her.
  • This verb is transitive. It cannot normally appear alone without an object to its right. The man needs to be kissing something.

Often in English, verbs can be both transitive and intransitive. Using them in these two different ways can slightly alter the meaning of the sentence.

• The grass is growing.
  • intransitive
  • This is an action undertaken by the grass. It is becoming larger and healthier.
• I am growing the grass.
  • transitive
  • This is an action undertaken by me. I am caring for the grass and helping it become larger and healthier.

In each example, the meanings are similar but they are not exactly the same. The meanings are slightly different.

Phrases

A phrase is a term in linguistics used to describe a group of words. They can be very simple or they can be very complex. We use phrases to simplify how we think about a sentence. It becomes easier to analyze and dissect a sentence when we can group each part of the sentence into distinct phrases.

What are they?

A phrase is a group of words that are related. There are many types of phrases, but for our current discussion, we’ll focus on verb phrases and prepositional phrases.

• VP = Verb Phrase
• PP = Prepositional Phrase

At their most simple, phrases can be single words.

• VP(run)
  • This verb phrase only contains the word “run”.

They can also have more than one word.

• PP(in the room)
  • This prepositional phrase has three words in it.

We can use this idea to group related words together into single chunks that are easier to analyze and think about by using phrases.

• VP(run very quickly)
• PP(in the dark, dusty room on the left)

We can broadly group all of the words above into phrases. It makes it easier to understand how the sentence is formed when we do this.

The Differences

The main difference between these two phrases is their transitivity. The verb “to speak” can be used in both ways. It can be either transitive or intransitive.

Transitive

• Can you VP(speak English)?
  • Here the word “English” is attached directly to the verb. It acts as its direct object.

The sentence above is a question about ability. The speaker would like to know about your ability to speak the English language. This is similar across all uses of “speak English”. The sentence is referring to the ability to communicate using English.

• I speak English.
• The man speaks English.
• Speak English!

Intransitive

• Can you VP(speak PP(in English))?
  • Here the word “English” does not attach to the verb directly. It attaches to the preposition “in”, which then attaches to the verb.

The sentence above is a request. It would be used when the speaker would like you to start using English instead of some other language.

You may think that this is also a transitive usage, but it is not. This is because you can remove the prepositional phrase from the sentence and it still retains its meaning and intended usage.

• Can you VP(speak)?

This is still a request from the speaker for you to start speaking. The difference this time is that they aren’t specifying a language for you to speak in. They are only requesting that you speak.

If you go back to the transitive sentence and remove the word “English”, it changes the meaning and intention of the sentence. It becomes identical with the intransitive sentence above. The transitive sentence loses its meaning of inquiring about your English abilities and just becomes a request for you to speak.

Conclusion

That was quite a lot to take in! The smaller the difference, the more complex the explanation for the difference is. Hopefully, you learned something new from our discussion today.

Summarized simply, “speak English” is used in situations referring to a person’s ability to use the English language, while “speak in English” is used in situations where a request is being made.

However, as we already said. The difference is incredibly small. It’s possible for you to use each of those phrases interchangeably without sounding strange or risking anyone misunderstanding you.

A complete search of the internet has found these results:

speak English is the most popular phrase on the web.

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Why choose TextRanch?

Hi,

1. Can you speak English?

2. Can you speak in English?

3. I want to learn how to speak English.

4. I want to learn how to speak in English.

Are the above sentences all correct? Yes.

Is there any difference in meaning if «in» is used?? Usually, ‘in’ is not used. It doesn’t sound natural in any of these examples.

Let me comment by offering a couple of examples.

If I were in a foreign country, and I walked into a hotel, I might say to the man behind the counter, ‘Can you speak English?’

Now consider a context where different languages are being discussed. You are German. Yous say something in Japanese. I might naturally say to you, ‘Can you say that in English?’

Best wishes, Clive

Ответ:

привет , была рада помочь можешь отметить мой ответ как лучший  и поставить лайк : )

Объяснение:

speak english — говорить по англ; а in english — выступать

Если я правильно понял, то если после глагола speak идет название любого языка (Russian, Ukrainian, English) без артикля, то это значит владеть этим языком. В то время как speak in some language значит говорить на нем, но не понимать или не владеть (например говорить заученную фразу). Вывод такой, что было бы неправильным сказать he speaks English, but doesn’t understand it, а приемлемый вариант такой — he speaks in English, but doesn’t understand it. То есть что-то похожее на наше по- английски и на английском соответственно.

Speak English Vs Speak in English

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Barely literate

Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:17:06 PM

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Back to top FounDit

Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:24:20 PM

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I’m having difficulty finding a real difference. The tone of voice, and inflection, might make a difference, but the words themselves don’t imply much of a difference.

«Speak English» seems to be a simple statement, or imperative, while «Speak in English» could convey the possibility of the person being able to speak in more than one language, and you are specifying which one you want to hear.

Apart from that, I can see no real difference.

Back to top Drag0nspeaker

Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:49:00 PM

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Back to top NeuroticHellFem

Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:57:34 PM

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Back to top Romany

Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 1:11:56 PM

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• #1

I wonder what is correct «I talk in English» or «I talk on English»?

• #2

***neither a teacher nor a native-speaker***

Some possibilities depending on what you mean to say;

To talk in English.
To talk on in English.
To talk on English Language.

• #3

If you’re talking about the language, we normally use «speak», not «talk».

I was speaking [in] Spanish with a friend yesterday.
He speaks in English on the phone every day.

We don’t necessarily use «in». I speak Spanish. He speaks English every day.

I think it’s better to use «speak» when the subject is languages. You wouldn’t ask someone «How many languages do you talk?» or «Do you talk German?»

• #4

If you’re talking about the language, we normally use «speak», not «talk».

I was speaking [in] Spanish with a friend yesterday.
He speaks in English on the phone every day.

We don’t necessarily use «in». I speak Spanish. He speaks English every day.

I think it’s better to use «speak» when the subject is languages. You wouldn’t ask someone «How many languages do you talk?» or «Do you talk German?»

What about such an example? ;

My friend and I were talking, and then I suggested him that we talk on in English to improve our speaking skills.

• #5

What about such an example? ;

My friend and I were talking, and then I suggested him that we talk on in English to improve our speaking skills.

Personally, I would say «My friend and I were talking, and then I suggested that we speak English so we could practice».

• #6

What’s wrong with?

• We were talking [about] the English Language!
• Let’s talk football!!!;-)

• #7

What’s wrong with?

• We were talking [about] the English Language!
• Let’s talk football!!!;-) — Very colloquial, and I don’t particularly like it. There’s nothing wrong with «Let’s talk about football».

There’s nothing wrong with those (well, apart from the missing «about» in the second sentence).

I said that we usually use «speak» when the verb is followed by the name of a language/number of languages.

We speak Spanish.
They speak German.
We speak four different languages.

We are talking about speaking English.
They are talking about speaking German.
He was talking about last week, when he was speaking Italian all week!

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